Ntan

Nnta is a form of drumming and dance at one time popular throughout the Akan area. The dance was descibed to me by my teacher as ‘haughty’. It laughs at the Ashatis that come back from the south. He said that the Akan met white people and now think they are better than the rest of us. They are ‘haughty’. The dance show how they walk with their walking sticks and umbrellas.

Ntan is a form of drumming and dancing which was at one time popular throughout the Akan area, including Ashanti. Like Sikyi, it is light in character. It may be performed at funerals, during the last phase of the odwira festival, and on other social occasions. The drums found in a Ntan ensemble have always been considered art objects because they are decorated with very elaborate relief carvings each of which is symbolic as well. For example, the master drum is usually mounted on a tiger; the tiger in this context denotes the power of the drum in controlling the affairs of the occasions.